<p>I have to order school pictures today. Do any colleges require them with applications? Do we need them for ACT/SAT or scholarship apps? I have this vague memory of needing extras junior year but that may have all changed by now. </p>
<p>ACT/SAT require you to upload a digital photo with your registration.</p>
<p>@cakeisgreat - I have a student (class of '15) whose first choice is Quinnipiac; it sounds like a great place (though I cannot spell itā¦)</p>
<p>@seal16 - please tell me if you learn what it means; DS got that email too. I somehow doubt it will be good for anything, but maybe one level above when you can send in a check for āwhoās who in the teenage worldā to include your own kid. ;)</p>
<p>@Cheeringsection - I think there was a time when you needed those extras on paper for apps/tests, but now weāve been able to basically take a selfie at the moment for anything that needs it and then upload it. The only application that requires a real photo, to the best of my knowledge, would be a passport application, and that has other requirements that wouldnāt be met by the yearbook picture.</p>
<p>Edit to add re pictures: I believe that if we enroll younger kids, or non-Saturday-for-the-first-time kids for the SAT, it might require a picture on actual paper, because they donāt allow online registrations in that case.</p>
<p>Iām sure you guys have already seen this, but below is link to a list of all of the āAP Scholar Awardsā. To me it just seems like another way that the College Board tries to market their services, to try to get kids/families to take more AP tests as if these awards actually mean something. My guess is that they donāt ā the schools are going to evaluate AP tests/scores however they do it, and wonāt be influenced by these award categories.
<a href=āAP Scholar Awards ā AP Central | College Boardā>http://professionals.collegeboard.com/k-12/awards/ap-scholar</a>
?You might ask on the Class of 2014 thread if anyone found these āawardsā relevant during the admission process.</p>
<p>When I applied to college (in the Middle Ages) the schools requested a photo so they could see your race. Race-driven preferences existed, but were done āunder the tableā. There are apocryphal stories told of white applicants submitting photos of an African or Native American, and gaining admission to an elite school that otherwise wouldnāt have considered them. Not sure thatās true, because at the time all those schools also required interviews. . . As best I remember every aspect of all of S14ās applications were done electronically, so as long as you scan and save a photo you should be good.</p>
<p>S16 and I flew cross-country yesterday. The airports were filled with kids wearing college sweatshirts. Seemed like a lot of them were on the launch pad on their way to school. Most of us here will be launching our kids in two short years. Lots of rocking and rolling between now and then. Much fun, significant anxiety, and some pain. Life doesnāt go as scripted, and a lot of the unexpected stuff isnāt good stuff. Itās great to have this community here as we all move forward.</p>
<p>The AP designations did not mean a whole lot for my D HS '11. She tied with another girl from her class for the most APās passed. (there were over 500 in her graduating class), so it earned her a mention in the minutes of the school board meeting. And, I guess it probably adds to the prestige of the high school attended, they can brag about how well their students do. Otherwise, it does not mean much.</p>
<p>The only mention I found so far regarding AP awards was on a parents 15 board, and they said you can list it as national honors, since it shows that you took the most advanced classes and scored well on them.</p>
<p>Sā14 had an ap award by application time. He put it under the honors section probably pretty far down. </p>
<p>He also visited CMU and Pitt back to back and it was our first official visits. We loved Pitt- he thought he wanted a bigger school in a big city. We loved Pitt- and Pittsburgh. The pie shaped dorms were the smallest that we saw.
CMU kind of freaked us out. We sat in the info session and the parents seemed really aggressive after the video. They all had a bunch of fast and furious questions. </p>
<p>Sā16 has reported to school. Ap stats teacher reported that there were no 5ās, and a handful of 4ās out of 40-45 students. S got a 4 and his outlook improved after that news. </p>
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<p>The awards themselves are considered an honor and honors donāt necessarily get you into colleges by themselves. However, as you go up in the honor list, they will start meaning more since there are lots of kids at the bottom of the list, i.e., AP scholar, fewer kids at the middle with a distinction, not many who are national scholars and only 2 per state who make the state scholar. What is applicable for the college process is to see where the award might stand at the time of the application in terms of other applicants. For this, you have to look at how many people have this award from your school or state while applying to hard to get into colleges or in state college scholarships which might look at those awards. It is meaningless to get any award at the end of 12th. :D</p>
<p><a href=āhttp://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/research/2013/2013-AP-Scholar-Counts.xlsā>http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/research/2013/2013-AP-Scholar-Counts.xls</a></p>
<p>OTOH, many colleges give a credit for APs. If a typical college credit of 3 hours equals 1/4 of a semester load and one has 4 of them by the time they have applied, they are saving half year of tuition, room and board.</p>
<p>Well, we finally have schedules figured out for both S15 and D16. Why is it that, in a school of 1600 kids, there are barely enough to fill one section of each AP class? And with that in mind, why does the schedule load them all into the same period?
S wanted to take AP Lang, AP US History, AP Stats, and AP Physics. Three of those four are the same period. The same period, in fact, as marching band.
:facepalm:
D got shut out of two AP classes, but mercifully we were able to make her schedule work with the dual enrollment versions, and she kept her third AP (Chem, also the same period as so many of the others). Seems like kind of poor planning, yeah? And thank all the gods in all the heavens for the guidance counselor, who worked with us for over an hour-- in a building with malfunctioning AC-- to get their schedules sorted.</p>
<p>DS has a schedule now but may want to change it. His HS is offering Mandarin for the 1st time thus fall. He would have to drop Honors Comp Science (class after the AP) to take it. I see pros and cons. Pros: 1) it is a spoken language whereas he has previously studied Latin (3 years), 2) he is currently interested in engineering and Chinese may prove helpful career wise, 3) if he likes it he has time for 2 years in HS, and 4) it will likely require less HW time since it is not an honors class. Cons: 1) the teacher is new to our district so is an āunknownā, which makes it a possible GPA risk (CS has been all As thus far), 2) would remove the possibility of taking all 4 years of CS offered, 3) he would be dropping an honors class, 4) CS may be even more useful career wise, and 5) Very few students take the 3rd and 4th year of CS so it is somewhat an independent study. Rest of his schedule is APUSH, AP lang/comp, AP Calc AB, physics honors (pre-req for AP physics) and web design (required art credit). I have to sign off on any changes. What do you think?</p>
<p>Bearing in mind this is purely a gut reaction and worth every penny youāre paying for it, butā¦unless he can offer up a compelling interest in things Chinese that would justify the switch (heās always been fascinated, is an adoptee from Taiwan, or something) Iād think the 4 years of Comp Sci with an independent study would look better on the CV from an adcomās POV. That having been said if he wanted to switch, Iād let him, simply on the theory that heās a junior in high school and this is a relatively painless way for him to exercise self-determination. If he hates his choice laterā¦well, at least it doesnāt cost him several hundred dollars a credit hour.</p>
<p>@Cheeringsectionā why would he take H CS after AP CS? </p>
<p>First day of school today. D16 is taking her final in her first college class as we speak. Sheās been doing well. Iām considering bribing her for an A. Sshh. LOL<br>
I have to say this board makes our district look weakā¦ The only APs (and yes there are only 2) are in senior year. They are English, and calculus
Anyone in Ohio and looking at in state schools? We are looing at MiamiU, Bowling Green, and, if there is NMS $
UKentucky. </p>
<p>Seal16 as I understand it, our CS program is left from when there were 2 APs for CS. This year (#3) would have been the class for the 2nd AP exam. Students have been able to get CS related summer jobs after years 3 and 4. I am not sure however how recent those job opportunities have been. </p>
<p>Correction- there may not be a HW benefit since CS has not generated much in the past except for the AP exam prep. All programming projects get done at school. </p>
<p>Kandcsmom I am familiar with all the schools you mention. I know friends and family that have attended and a faculty member. My DS is not considering them due to a lack of strength in his area of study. Anything specific you would like to know?</p>
<p>@cheeringsection this is like our school, Comp Sci AP is a prerequisite for Advanced Comp Sci which is weighted the same as Comp Sci AP but there is no AP test just a more advanced class that builds off the Comp Sci AP.</p>
<p>Speaking of photos. Stupid question, butā¦ What could/should a rising junior consider wearing on the first day of school if she must take her school yearbook photo (doubles as ID photo) that day? Last year, her school had uniforms. This school does not. Help, please.</p>
<p>My D said that it is a general rule not to break a dress code on a first day. Short shorts are ok on a second week of school. On a serious note it depends on a school and the weather.</p>
<p>I figure it will just be a head + shoulders shot. I dread talking to her about clothes. She is very inventive with her outfits, but does not like to take direction (or when I run after her with Wrinkle Release). Maybe Iāll just ask her to put together three outfits and weāll focus on which might do well for a photo. I seriously doubt Iād be willing to let her wear whatever she wants that day. (Add: Her old school had uniforms, but her new school does not. I havenāt even seen ANY dress code policy.) </p>
<p>D returned home from her Girl Scout trip to Morocco yesterday. It was a great trip but the first few days were rough, they didnāt have enough time to acclimate and the group was hit hard with altitude sickness and one girl did not want to be on the trip at all (her parents forced her to go). She refused to participate and had to be sent home. Who in the world would force a kid to take a trip like that??? I canāt even imagine how much that last minute return flight cost or what her home life is like. She was one of the older girls too, 18, so Iām guessing sheāll be starting college this year and I have wonder if she is being forced to go to a particular school too? Just sadā¦</p>
<p>It was an interesting mix of girls. There were originally 14 girls, four from our Texas council but one of the four didnāt end up going, I donāt now why and the one that was sent home left them with 12 girls. My D was surprised that almost all the other girls, other than the ones from TX, attend private schools, two are at the same school as Obamaās daughters. This is not a mix that usually happens in other Girl Scout activities my D has done. I think it was a because it was a hugely expensive trip. Our GS council really encourages girls to work to earn their way and offers bonus incentives for selling GS cookie and scholarships to girls that go on these destination trips, I guess other GS councils donāt do this so only full pay girls from other councils applied? Over all it was a great a experience for D and all the girls got along very well. Not only did D have some amazing experiences that sheāll remember for a lifetime (riding a camel through the desert at sunsetā¦I loved that picture with the long shadows!) but I can also tell she really grew in her social maturity. I think experiences like this will help her be better prepared for college.</p>
<p>Now that sheās back after her long summer away sheās getting ready for school and has started back on her PSAT/SAT prep. I signed her up with Prep Scholar to give their 5 day free trial a try and she met with her local tutor the first time today. I donāt think the tutor is going to be as much help as I thought and have pretty much decided to drop to every other week which would give her 5 sessions before the PSAT but Iām going to let that be her call. She igh ditch the tutor altogether. She should have her class schedule Friday afternoon. I canāt believe how fast this summer blew by!</p>